Reflections

  HEALING OF BODY, MIND, AND SPIRIT –medical mission Sunday Numbers 12: 1-12 Vs 7. My servant Moses is not so; he is faithful in all my house Health and healing are God’s gifts. God can restore us when we are desperate, tired, and inflicted. He can heal us in miraculous ways. Those of us who presume to be healthy, and stout basically are blind and sick in God’s eyes, and we all need a healing of our body-mind, and soul today badly. Illness and afflictions are realities of the world. Despite advances in modern medicine and with the invention of a new pharmaceutical delivery system of medications we have not conquered many of the life-threatening diseases that affect us. The covid -19 pandemic is a good example where our scientists are all looking with awe to find a suitable remedy for this disease. The rampage and cry of the virus are still on, and we are all at our wit's end. It is in this context that the word of God and His commands appeal to us and do give a meaningful message. ...

  El Shaddai through the Pandemic    Psalm 91 V1”He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty” In the last 2 years, the lives of everyone across the world have been uprooted, leading to an unbeknownst future creating isolation and fear. El Shaddai, seen only in the Old Testament, is translated in English as God Almighty. In our lives, especially during the Pandemic, we forget what it truly means when we call upon God Almighty.   El Shaddai is a name or title for God; however, it also tells us of God’s nature. When we call God Almighty, we are proclaiming Him as omnipotent or all-powerful.   Why should we proclaim God as El Shaddai? The omniscient God knows He is omnipotent. We affirm in our sinful and fickle hearts and minds that God has complete power and authority. There is no power greater than Him. When Moses wrote this psalm, he had witnessed the Almighty in a burning bush, through the plagues in Egypt, parting of t...

  The Pandemic- which should lead us to a firm faith  Mark. 6:53-56   In this scripture portion, we could read the healing and transformational presence of Jesus Christ in the region of Gennesaret. This passage gives us certain lessons for our life. 1. Recognize the sufficiency of our master: Vs.54 When the crowd saw Jesus, they immediately recognized Him. Here the word“immediately” is of much importance because their recognition of Jesus involved knowledge of who Jesus is. It was not merely an intellectual knowledge rather a strong faith in God is sufficient to hold the weary. Have we ever recognized him in our life that he is sufficient enough to hold us? The more we found Him to be our own master and redeemer; we will be convinced in His sufficiency. 2. The encounter motivated to become the catalyst of the Lord’s healing: Vs.55-56 Having “immediately” recognized him, they “immediately” ran out to bring people to Him for they already knew what He could do. When they rec...

  The Pandemic: Which should lead us to firm Faith  Romans 8:22-28 V28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” When my children were young, they used to ask me all their questions. “Mom, why do we go to church on Sundays? Why do we close our eyes when we pray? Why?” I patiently answered these inquiries, knowing that this was a valuable form of learning. As they grew older, their questions became more difficult to answer. We discussed the tenants of our faith and the value of our cultural church as a family. We asked questions and we answered them together in prayer.     When the COVID-19 pandemic began, I felt like I had become like a small child again as I asked God why we were going through such hardship. I have been working as a nurse in the United States for more than 30 years, but this virus is truly like nothing I have ever seen before. Healthcare workers have faced seemi...

   "The Pandemic - Which should lead us to firm faith"    Acts .11: 27-30   There are many important things to consider in these verses as the prophecy, the prophecy turned to reality, the cause of the famine, the unity and mission of the church, and finally the proper governing channel of the church.  Firstly, the prophecy, in old testaments we can see many prophets and their prophecies. But in the New Testament, prophets are not very common and they don’t have much power. Agabus, one of these prophets, is signified by the spirit of God, not speculation taken by the stars, or some other natural causes.  He prophesied that a severe famine would come and spread over the entire Roman world. Secondly, the prophecy turned to reality just a few months later.  This actually did happen during the reign of Claudius Caesar.  Thirdly, the cause of the famine can be explained as the people have done the sins and God has given the punishments. Prophets s...

  Replublic Day “Justice for All”   St. Matthew 23:23-28. V23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices— mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former”. Today 26th January is the Indian Republic Day when the country marks and celebrates the date on which the constitution of India came in to effect on 26th January 1950, replacing the Government of India Act as the governing documents of India and thus turning the nation in to a newly formed Republic.  Republic Day Greetings to you all. The Scribes and Pharisees are very devoted to the Law. They observe it very keenly. But here Jesus called them hypocrites. The reason was they were observing the law in literal sense. The Moses' Laws were interpreted by scribes and high priests and made a large number of rules and regulations. Here...

   "The Pandemic - Which should lead us to firm faith"     2 Samuel 24:15-25 "I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt, Lord, for doing this foolish thing" v10. "I am the one who has sinned and done wrong!" v17 As the world is entering into the 3rd year (2 year and 2 months) of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, it is worthwhile to meditate on the spiritual truths behind these times. The pandemic took away our freedom; limiting us to stay home /quarantining ourselves from the world outside, by avoiding travels, family gatherings, worship gatherings, normal school/college lives, sports activities and so forth. The world became a very unhappy and restricted place suddenly. We lost our normal, regular, pleasure filled lives. The modern scientific community is trying hard to contain this virus and the COVID vaccine is a big breakthrough limiting deaths and complications to some extent. The virus mutations (variants) are still a conc...

     "The Pandemic Should Lead us to Firm Faith"    Revelation 6: 8-17   In the Bible, pestilences and plagues are mentioned in the Old Testament Book of Exodus, as God's judgement against Pharaoh, in the gospels as end time signs and in the Book of Revelation as part of the final judgement. Throughout the human history, disease has killed people on a far more massive scale than world wars. After the consecration of the Jerusalem Temple, God proclaimed, “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land….” (2 Chronicles  7: 13-14 ). For a Bible-believing Child of God, pestilence plagues and disease should not be a surprise because the Word of God is living and active and it p...

  Strength in Unity Psalms 133   David was born in Bethlehem, the youngest son of Jesse of the tribe of Judah. The prophet Samuel secretly anointed David as Saul's successor, after revoking Saul's designation king. David was a skilled harpist and was brought to the royal court to divert Saul with music and alleviate the depression that Saul had succumbed to under the strain of his responsibilities. David won the undying friendship of the crown prince, Jonathan, whose sister Michal he married. After Saul's jealousy had forced David to flee for his life, he had two opportunities to slay the King but magnanimously spared him. Saul eventually met his end at Gilboa, together with three of his sons, including Jonathan. After a period of mourning, David proceeded to Hebron, where he was chosen king by the elders of Judah. Saul's general Abner, however, proclaimed Ishbosheth, a surviving son of King Saul, as the sovereign. In the civil war that followed, Ishbaal and Abner were ...

  Incorporated to be One Body     St. John 15:1-12 (v. 2) He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. As we meditate unto the theme Incorporated to be One Body, we can understand the importance of nurture and connection when meditating on this passage.  God the Father is the gardener and Christ is the vine.  The Father is a caring gardener who looks to make the branches fruitful.  We should be recognized as branches connecting ourselves to Christ.  In the world that we live in, we seldom find problems to connect.  Everything is accessible to us, we have our smartphones, tablets, laptops ready to connect.  With the coronavirus, we are more connectable to worship on zoom or gather town, get up and log in to work, and even shop through amazon.  Knowledge is even available through a simple google or Wikipedia search.  ...

  Incorporated to be One Body     1 Corinthians  12:12-20    “ Just as a body though one has many parts, all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ”.(1 Corinthians 12: 12)      Paul wrote this chapter to correct how the Corinthian church viewed different spiritual gifts. Paul wrote this to show that there is no good or bad gift, all gifts that are given to us by the holy spirit are good in the sight of God. He also wanted to tell us that whatever your gift is you still can contribute to the church.   We all are different  and we make one body of Christ (1Cor  12: 12-14 )  Just as it says in 1 cor  12:12-14  we are all different but we are all baptized in the holy spirit into the body of Christ. Just like how the human body consists of different body parts but still makes one body. In the same way that we are all different with different talents as a gift of God as well but when we come together we mak...

  Incorporated to be One Body 1 Corinthians 10:1-6 The Israelites in the wilderness received spiritual blessings and protection from Christ, just as born-again Christians do. These blessings and protections, Paul disclosed in the preceding verse, were insufficient to shield people from God's wrath for their own sins. As a result, God overthrew most of that generation of Israelites, who died in the wilderness. Paul now cautions the Christians in Corinth to learn from the Israelites' example. Their reaction, like the Israelites', should be to give up their desire to commit evil. The Corinthians, it seemed, misread what many Christians today still misinterpret. They mistakenly assumed that their freedom in Christ—their emancipation from the law of Moses—meant they may indulge in immoral pleasures without fear of God's wrath. While Christians are rescued from eternal condemnation by God's mercy via trust in Christ, Paul wants them to know that the Lord will punish them ...

  The Importance of Unity Within the Body of Christ Ephesians 4:1-7 Verse: There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called. Ephesians 4:4 In the first three chapters of Ephesians Paul explains all that God has done for us through his mercy. However, in chapter four we can identify that Paul calls us, the people to live in the right manner. So as we can see this was done after Paul had explained what God did for us.  Paul tells us to walk with lowliness and gentleness, to be humble in all we do. As Philippians 2:1-10 shows us, we should walk with our heads down which means we can be happy and content when we aren’t in control, knowing that truly God’s in control. We can also identify the forgiving and generous heart of Christ, as the spirit has all the power to take revenge. We need to suffer from one another so that the wrongs in our life will not work against God’s purpose of bringing us all together. The unity of the Spirit is given...

Incorporated to be One Body 1 Samuel 7:1-5   Throughout its illustrious history, the nation of Israel has been no stranger to conflict – external or internal. Conflict is seen as a literary device in works of literature as well as non-fictional works. Literary devices, such as conflict, play a crucial role in helping the reader to grasp deeper meanings expressed in the text.  In the book of 1st Samuel Chapter 7, Israel finds herself in the midst of conflict. On one hand, the Israelites have managed to recover the ark of the Lord from the Philistines. The ark of the Lord also referred to as the ark of the Covenant represents the presence of the Lord. As they wandered through the wilderness in search of the Promised Land, the Israelites carried the ark of the Lord dutifully. In a sense, the ark was meant to serve as a reminder to God’s people that He is with them wherever they go. However, the presence of the Lord does not equate to the absence of conflict. Verse 2 mentions how ...

  Incorporated to be One Body Colossians 4:2-6 V.6  Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone The main focus of this passage is in verse 6, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone”. The word salt can be used as a metaphor because in Apostle Paul’s day salt was as valuable enough to be used as money. Salt was treasured for preservation and flavor. Similarly, a Christian way of life should be helpful and valuable, “flavored” differently from the message of non-believers.  This is to preserve the holy precious message of Christ. Devoting ourselves for prayer (v,2)  Through our struggles of life, we need to trust the Lord and have strong faith. Prayer is a skill that takes time to develop. To grow one must practice, which means growth comes from prayer regularly. Eric Roberts quoted “Devotion to prayer springs from dependence on God...

  VICTORY THROUGH  FASTING AND PRAYER Ephesians  6  10-20 Verse: And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:18  The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians is written as an encouragement to the Christians in Ephesus as it is also an encouragement to us: an encouragement to live out our calling as Christians. The passage from Ephesians 6 is the famous “whole armor of God”. It begins: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” It’s fitting that Paul here wraps up his epistle to the Ephesians with a call to wrap ourselves up in the armor of God. For that is the only way we will be able to stand in the day of battle, and at the end of the day, to stand victorious. Ephesians  6:10-20  defines what spiritual warfare is a...

  VICTORY THROUGH  FASTING AND PRAYER Matthew 17: 14 – 21  The passage that we have for our meditation  this morning  is a very painful experience for everyone involved. The boy is suffering physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. The father is desperate to find healing for his son and trying all his means and should have been exhausted. The disciples of Jesus who were first dealing with this boy could not bring any change in his condition and it would have been disheartening for them and they too receive a rebuke from the Lord. For Jesus to see this boy suffering, his father in a desperate condition and his disciples not able to help was discouraging. However, his intervention brings healing to the boy.  Some of the translations have omitted v.21 but we find it in NKJV “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” Prayer and fasting are very strong “faith tools” that we see in the life and ministry of Jesus. At the beginnin...

  VICTORY THROUGH  FASTING AND PRAYER 1Kings 18: 21-39 Verse: 37  O Lord answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord our God,  and that you are turning their hearts back again.   I Kings 18  tells us that three years of drought has made life difficult for Israel during the time of King Ahab. God sent Prophet Elijah to reveal himself to Ahab because it was time to bring rain back to earth again. But it is not just going to rain. The rain is going to accompany a battle between the prophets of Baal and the Sovereign God.  The draught came in Israel because  Ahab has abandoned the commandments of the Lord, because of the influence of his wife Jezebel who was a strong  Baal worshipper.                       Elijah addressed the people with two important questions:  “ How long will you waver and falter between two gods limping back and forth”.” It is time for you to choose as to ...